Newsbrief: Almost six months on from its release, the Nintendo Wii U is still struggling to build a robust lineup of titles. The latest franchise to start quietly shuffling towards the bench is EA Sports' Madden series, which will not be making an appearance on the console in 2013.
According to Nintendo World Report, this marks the first time Madden will be skipping Nintendo platforms since 1991.
"We have a strong partnership with Nintendo and will continue to evaluate opportunities to deliver additional Madden NFL products for Nintendo fans in the future," EA Sports said in its official statement.
Not for an iteration of the same game you can see on every system, every year. This is pretty much a bet by EA that the system has little to offer and that people into their titles are holding out for the next Xbox or PS - or holding onto their own systems.
Really? I know some people are loyal to certain companies, but let's drop the fanboyism and be real: This isn't a good thing for Nintendo.
It doesn't mean they are doomed or anything, but saying the lack of a major franchise on the system is a boon is delusional.
Remember the Wii U was touted as a system that would have all the games the other two consoles had. This is sadly turning out to be false.
Madden wasn't going to sell consoles, but it is a slap in the face to the people who own a Wii U and would like to play the game. A system benefits from a diverse library. This decision benefits no one, except perhaps EA.
There are a certain number, maybe not very many, who don't like EA and would love an opportunity to easily avoid them. At least that is what I took from Amir's comment.
I really don't understand EA's motive here. Sure the Wii U doesn't have a huge US install base, but that can change. I do understand that last year's Madden game did poorly on the Wii U, but that was due to a number of factors. One of which was that the game was released months after its launch on other platforms. Not something that EA could control mind you, but something that could have easily been predicted.
The only thing that EA "gains" from this is not having to expend whatever resources they would have spend making the version. That isn't really saying much.
I think they have been forced to become a smaller company than they where. The evidence is in the reporting and it has forced them to cut cost and jobs in places they would not have liked to. I'm believing more and more now that their lack of support (Crysis being canceled, half done games on Wii U, decisions to cut back or produce games into the next year for the console) has more to do with their downsizing than it has to do with some Conspiracy Origin deal.
I'm sure they would love to be where Ubisoft is at with announcing games for everything.
" However, dropping one platform from a list of half a dozen or more isn't really a way to cut costs a significant amount. "
Sure thing, but releasing the Wii U version of NFS: Most Wanted 6 months after the other versions instead of making it a launch title of the console and instead release an inferior looking port of an 8 months old Mass Effect 3 for the launch of the Wii U wasn't a smart move either.
For years now EA's business decisions aren't very rational any more.
Perhaps this is EA's way of righting their ship. Skip out on Madden this year and maybe come back to it when they have the resources and the outlook for the Wii U is brighter.
Pretty easy to see why they did it. It was going to sell 10k copies at best.
Remember it wasn't a big seller on the Wii either.
I am only surprised in the sense that they already put one Madden on the Wii U. And the game doesn't exactly see a ton of changes from year to year except the database of player names and statistics.
Honestly, I don't even know what some people see in Madden games to begin with. I personally have no interest in the game franchise, so to me, Madden not coming to the Wii U for the time being is not something that I'm personally worried about. Having said that, this just shows that EA is a problem and that the company needs a major reform with its attitude. Ubisoft itself may have flaws, but at least, it finds ways to make up for its flaws and mistakes and the same is true for Activision. I have seen more articles on this website on the problems with EA than with either Ubisoft of Activision.
It was never a big seller on the Wii because it wasn't the same game as it was on the 360 or PS3. It was a dumbed down half finished version. They probably would have done far better had they kept the PS2/Gamecube engine alive and improved for it.
From a design point, wiiU is perfect for team sports games!
It doesn't mean they are doomed or anything, but saying the lack of a major franchise on the system is a boon is delusional.
Remember the Wii U was touted as a system that would have all the games the other two consoles had. This is sadly turning out to be false.
Madden wasn't going to sell consoles, but it is a slap in the face to the people who own a Wii U and would like to play the game. A system benefits from a diverse library. This decision benefits no one, except perhaps EA.
There are a certain number, maybe not very many, who don't like EA and would love an opportunity to easily avoid them. At least that is what I took from Amir's comment.
But saying a console lacking a game is the REASON to buy the console only happens...with Wii U, I guess?
For example, if someone said, "The Respawn game only being on the Xbox 720 is a good reason to buy a PS4!" that statement would also be pretty silly.
Pretty sure that was sarcasm from Amir in the original post.
You might be right. It does seem that way upon reading it with that in mind. Intent of tone is difficult to discern in written (or typed) form.
I had read similar sentiments of that nature on other forums, so I thought his statement was just more of the same.
The only thing that EA "gains" from this is not having to expend whatever resources they would have spend making the version. That isn't really saying much.
I'm sure they would love to be where Ubisoft is at with announcing games for everything.
Sure thing, but releasing the Wii U version of NFS: Most Wanted 6 months after the other versions instead of making it a launch title of the console and instead release an inferior looking port of an 8 months old Mass Effect 3 for the launch of the Wii U wasn't a smart move either.
For years now EA's business decisions aren't very rational any more.
I completely agree with you there. Rational thinking is far from EA's top priority.
Remember it wasn't a big seller on the Wii either.
I am only surprised in the sense that they already put one Madden on the Wii U. And the game doesn't exactly see a ton of changes from year to year except the database of player names and statistics.
It was never a big seller on the Wii because it wasn't the same game as it was on the 360 or PS3. It was a dumbed down half finished version. They probably would have done far better had they kept the PS2/Gamecube engine alive and improved for it.